


How You Get the Girl

by fabulouslaughter, story_telling_sage



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gratuitous Taylor Swift Music, Height Based Humor, Humor that probably doesn't even count as humorous, Plant Based Humor, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, or somehow part of the LGTB+ community, so many puns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 19:38:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9457649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabulouslaughter/pseuds/fabulouslaughter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/story_telling_sage/pseuds/story_telling_sage
Summary: If you asked Laila Dermott about her soulmate, she would've told you a great many things, all of them different. But, when she stepped foot onto the USC campus in brand new red and cold converse and cut off jeans, Laila wasn't wondering about her soulmate much at all except to think: is she here?





	1. It's the Morning of Your Very First Day

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the adventures of the USC Trojans! Here by gratuitous Taylor Swift music, terrible senses of humor, and oblivious gay girls all around. I hope you'll enjoy joining us as Laila Dermott and Sara Alvarez try to get their shit figured out. 
> 
> This takes place in a universe where your soulmates thoughts of you appear on your body temporarily. Chapter title from Fifteen by Taylor Swift.
> 
> This is being co-written by Abigail (wylcnvcnsunshine.tumblr.com) and Kat (reytrashqueen.tumblr.com). Thanks for reading!

If you had asked Laila Dermott about her soulmate, she would’ve told you a great many things, all of them different.

At age eight she would’ve told you he’d be cute, with fluffy hair, and an affinity for unicorns, because she couldn’t have a soulmate that didn’t love unicorns. At age thirteen, older and slightly wiser, fresh from teenage drama and bitter words from best friends she would’ve told you her soulmate would be kind and not much else. She would shake her head to clear out those darkening thoughts teenage girls often had and would think: he’ll be kind. He’ll love me. He will.

At age fifteen Laila would’ve told you her soulmate would be a girl. She would’ve told you this crying in the bathroom after practice with aching hands wondering if her parents would hate her. At sixteen, Laila wasn’t so much worried about soulmates and was much more worried about her geometry final and helping Sophie get a date for homecoming. Laila would be attending with a group of girls, none of which were a date but simply friends and she was not thinking about kissing Hannah Davis behind the bleachers, thank you very much.

At seventeen, had you’d have asked Laila about her soulmate, she would’ve presented you with a list: she’ll be a girl, she’ll be kind, and she’ll love unicorns. Things had changed, but not much overall. She’ll love Exy and big dogs and all of Laila’s plant-based humor. Laila was very much in love with the idea of her soulmate by then, such as she was in love with the small succulent garden she had growing in the window box and the feeling of aching muscles after practice.

At eighteen, Laila would’ve told you a simple ‘nothing much’ and then would’ve gone on to talk about her school team’s chances at the championship that year. Laila was too in love with Exy and the prospect of seeing ‘Dermott #23’ written across her back in red and gold to be in love with anything or anyone else. So when she stepped foot onto the USC campus in brand new red and gold converse and cutoff jeans, her dirty blonde hair twisted into a bun atop her head, Laila Dermott wasn’t wondering about her soulmate much at all except to think: is she here?

–

Sara Alvarez was sure about one thing in her life and that’s that she was completely and undeniably gay. She would’ve told you this at four years old as she professed her unabashed love for Princess Peach, though she would not have had a name for those feelings yet. She would’ve told you this proudly and without shame at twelve years old when her less savory classmates laughed endlessly. She would’ve muttered this to herself, at thirteen years old, with tear streaked eyes, when slurs started showing up on her locker and she would’ve made damn sure you couldn’t hear her. The next day Sara would smile at them, all teeth showing, and she told herself to be proud.

At age sixteen, Sara Alvarez would ask Mindy Donovan out. Mindy would agree, and they would date for a eight, long months. Sara would’ve known Mindy was not her soulmate and would not have cared one bit because her lips tasted like cherry chapstick, and for eight months, that was Sara’s favorite taste.

At the end of those eight months Mindy Donovan would break Sara’s heart. After two nights of crying and too many pints of ice cream to count, Sara would redo her makeup - winged eyeliner sharp enough to kill a man and bright red lipstick - and smile, all teeth showing, and would’ve gotten along quite nicely with her life. There was Exy practice, homework, Exy practice, her abuela’s 60th birthday party, and Exy practice.

During Sara’s junior and senior year, she kissed quite a selection of North West High’s female population but never had another relationship that surpassed the two month mark. Exy was now the love of her life, a place for her to release all of her not-so-quiet passion with reckless abandon. When she got the offer from the University of Southern California, it wasn’t just a dream come true, it was a promise of something new. When Sara walked onto campus, her five foot eight frame held high, her black hair braided tight, Sara Alvarez was sure about one thing: this was going to be the time of her life.


	2. It Feels Like a Perfect Night

“Welcome to USC!” a guy said, bouncing over to the huddled group of freshman standing around the court parking lot. Laila was pretty sure he wasn’t a guy at all, but perhaps a human ray of sunshine, or possibly a puppy walking on two legs instead. She exchanged a glance with the blue-eyed, dark skinned girl next to her with coppery hair curled on top, the rest shaved to the base of her skull. The slightly taller, eastern looking girl raised her eyebrows with a smirk before turning back to the human ray of sunshine that Laila assumed was their junior captain.

“That stands for University of Southern California,” the guy clarified, and  _ damn was he too excited for this early in the morning _ , Laila thought hypocritically. She was bouncing up and down in her converse from her own, unrestrained enthusiasm. 

“Named by Robert Widney when he founded it in 1880, making it the oldest private research university in California.” Another girl standing near Laila added quietly. Laila turned to look at taller girl - everyone was taller than Laila fucking Dermott it seemed - and couldn’t help but smile. Her hair was tied back in a loose braid that floated around her silky skin.

They briefly met eyes before Laila caught sight of something that made her look back down at her own skin instead. Curving around the other girl’s neck was elegant black scrawl. She couldn’t quite make out what it said but the implication was obvious: this girl has met her soulmate.

Laila briefly scoured her own arms, wondering if any of her soulmate’s thoughts had appeared there. There was nothing. If Laila’s soulmate was thinking about her, the thought was hidden somewhere else on her body.

“I’m Bryant Wolfe,” an even taller guy said from behind Mr. Grin and Smiles. His smile just as wide and his dark arms were covered in permanently inked words and images in the form of tattoos, but no soulmate scrawl in sight. “And this is Jeremy Knox. We’re going to be showing you all around today so follow us!” 

They entered into the building like a flock of lost geese as the two kept talking, keeping up an easy banter as they showed the new freshmen the sights. Eventually, they came to a stop outside the dorm building. Jeremy stood at the head 

“I’m excited to have you all on the court this year. I can’t wait to see what we can do together this season once summer practices start this Wednesday..”

“However,” Bryant cut in, “you don’t have to wait that long to get to know each other. We’re having a freshmen meet and greet with the rest of the team tonight and you’re all expected.”

“Joy,” the blue-eyed girl muttered next to Laila, her sarcasm thick. 

“Not a fan of parties?” Laila asked as they filed into the dorm building. 

“I didn’t come here to party, I came here to play Exy.”

“Letting loose isn’t gonna kill you,” another girl said. The females of the newly recruited Trojans had flocked together it seemed. Laila was surrounded by the four other girls in a sea of testosterone. This one was tall, even taller in the pumps she was wearing, with dark brown, sunkissed skin. Laila eyes betrayed her, obviously following the rather impressive curves of the girl’s body.

_ Shiiitttt, I’m gay _ , Laila thought, something like a smirk playing across her lips.

Blue Eyes - Laila really needed to learn their names - rolled her eyes with such force it was almost painful to watch. 

“Sue me if I don’t want to spend my college years high and plastered.”

“Okay, break it up, break it up,” an older girl said, coming up from behind. It was obvious she wasn’t a freshmen simply by the way she carried herself and made even more obvious by the Trojans letterman jacket she wore with her name and number on the back. Berker, #7 was written in embroidered red and gold.

Lalia recognized her almost immediately: Diana Berker, #7 Defensive Dealer. Laila knew all of the female Trojans by heart, Diana especially. She took the Exy world by storm when she made starting line up during the season opener her sophomore year. It was a faster rise to starting line than the Exy world had seen in years and, in Laila’s humble opinion, Diana had every right to be on track to take over the captaincy. Laila was gay enough to admit to nursing a not so small crush on the start of her junior year. Diana, along with Vivian Bhat and Beatrice Watson, were pretty much her heroes.  

“I’m going to take you guys to the less male driven side of the dorm and let you get settled,” Berker said, gesturing for the girls to follower her. Glancing back to the moody group she added, “And if you want to listen to some unsolicited advice, I’d suggest spending less time fighting each other and more time figuring out how to get along.” 

Blue Eyes stared back defiantly to which the dealer responded with a hard look, “We might not be the foxes, but we are still girls. We’ve got enemies in our own right, you don’t need to go making more. Especially not of each other. So play nice for the next five years, understood?”

As a smile spread across her face, Laila decided she liked Diana even more in person than on the field.

The freshmen girls followed Diana to where the female Trojans’ dorm rooms were clustered. As they walked, Laila’s eyes drifted again to tall girl with the sunkissed skin. God, she was gorgeous.

“Okay, Winger and Montalvo, you’re in room 312. Alvarez, Dermott, and Jones, you’re in 314. Me and the other girls are just down that hall in 322. Take a couple hours to settle in, shower and sort out your shit and what not, me and the girls will be by to pick you up a little after noon for lunch and a campus tour,” Diana said, tossing keys to each of the girls and leaving them with a mock, two finger salute.  

The two other girls, the one with the facts about USC and a shorter blonde who hadn’t spoken yet, headed off to room 312 leaving the breathtakingly gorgeous girl who held a solid four inches over Laila and Blue Eyes standing awkwardly in the hallway.

“Shall we?” Laila said, nodding towards the door to room 314.

\--

Laila looked into the full length mirror attached to the back of the door to the dorm room. Her white dress had thin straps looped over her shoulders and a floral print of pink roses, seeing as Laila loved roses. Her wedge heels were white to match the dress, and her lips were painted  bright pink to match as well. 

Blue Eyes, whose name was Annabeth-Not-Annie-Don’t-Fucking-Call-Me-That, was curled up on her dorm bed. She wasn't any more thrilled by the prospect of a team party given how it looked like she was planning on sleeping through it. Laila, on the other hand, was practically bouncing with excitement. She turned to the other girl, Sara Alvarez, and grinned. 

“Help zip me up?” Laila asked, gesturing to the zipper on the back of her dress. 

“Sure, shortie,” Sara replied playfully. The five foot eight Latina relished in the height difference between her and other other girls in a way that sent Laila scrambling for her favorite pair of heels. Even in her wedge sanders, Sara still held two inches on the smaller girl. 

However, two inches or not, Sara Alvarez was at perfect kissing height. And if Laila let herself engage in the harmless fantasies, no one needed to know. 

Laila wondered if her soulmate would be as pretty as Sara Alvarez. She doubted it.

“You look nice.” Laila told Sara, which was the understatement of the century. Sara looked much more than nice. She was stunning, especially in the little red outfit that made Laila’s breath catch in her throat. Laila suddenly felt childish in her floral dress.

Sara’s eyebrows quirked for half a second before a smile broke on her face. “Thanks, you too.” Her phone lit up in her pocket and she pulled it out. “It’s Naomi.” She announced. “The other girls are ready and waiting for us in the hall.”

Sara glanced over at Annabeth, who was still on her bed, in the same clothes she’d been wearing all day. “You coming, Grumpy the Dwarf?”

Annabeth grumbled something in a language Laila didn’t understand, but then pushed herself into a sitting position, stretched, and climbed out of bed. Laila waited for a moment to see if Annabeth planned on changing or freshening up, but the girl just gestured towards the door with an enthusiastic “let’s get this thing over with,” before picking up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder.

Naomi, Ms. Fun Facts, and Anya, the near-silent freshman, were waiting in the hallway. Naomi greeted them with a smile, while Anya was busy staring down at her feet. She nervously toyed with the hem of her floral skirt. Naomi was in simple jeans and a white button up, looking the most at peace with being there. 

Before they had a chance to exchange niceties, the door down the hall opened and Diana stepped out, closely followed by Beatrice Watson and Vivian Bhat, the other older Trojan girls. Laila had spent half the day with them, but she had to admit she was still more than a little starstruck.  

Beatrice stood taller than even Sara in three inch, baby pink stilettos which paired perfectly with her lacy crop top that fell of her slim shoulders. A soft smile graced her lips as she smiled at the freshmen. Beatrice hadn’t said much earlier, leaving the forceful Diana and Vivian do most of the talking. Not that Vivian had done much talking earlier, but her facial expressions spoke volumes. Hilarious, sarcastic volumes that made Laila want to get to know the striker better.

“God, I’m fucking proud of you,” Vivian muttered to Bea just loud enough for the others to hear. “You picked out almost all of that outfit yourself, I’m going to get you a girlfriend yet.” The striker herself was in a low cut, slim fitting black dress that came to rest mid-thigh. 

She surveyed the freshmen with a critical eye and her perfectly manicured eyebrow shot up a few inches when they came to rest on Annie. 

“Oh god, the new gremlin is worse than you, Bae.” Annabeth just met the sophomore girl’s eyes with an uncaring shrug and a fierce glare. 

“Break it up,” Diana said with a roll of her eyes, “again,” she finished before shouldering past Vivian and corralling the freshmen down the stairs and towards the sidewalk where Beatrice quickly ditched her shoes in favor of walking barefoot in the carefully tended, vibrant grass. When Vivian sent her an exasperated glare, Beatrice just grinned back, clearly enjoying what Laila surmised was friendly teasing.

The march to the party wasn’t a long one; it was held in a rec room a building or two away from the sports players’ dorms. The music of the party was heard before the party itself was seen, Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” blasting through stereos inside the building. Laila immediately perked up a the song, one of her favorites, and wondered who was choosing the music. 

Laila’s thoughts were pulled away from the music selection as the fleet of testosterone made their way to the girls. Jeremy lead the pack, and Bryant was corralling the eight or so freshmen from behind. Trailing right behind the older boy was a short, slouching kid who seemed very adamant at staying in Bryant’s shadow. Laila could only make out long, curly brown hair and a pair of wide eyes made even wider by his thick framed glasses before she began taking in the rest of the freshmen. 

All of them were insufferably tall, well muscled, and if Laila wasn’t more gay than a double rainbow, she probably would’ve been attracted to them. However, she was, in fact, gay as a double rainbow, so her thoughts roved back to Sara Alvarez. Laila searched for the unfairly tall girl in the crowd of Trojans, only to be jostled into the rec room. 

The room itself was a sight to behold. There was red and gold everywhere, on every chair, table, every brick on the wall it seemed. Streamers hung over rafters and were tied to chairs. Once the group was through the door, they dispersed in different directions. 

“I thought this was a freshmen meet and greet?” a voice from behind Laila questioned with obvious amusement. Laila turned, nearly tripping over her own heeled shoes, and found the arms of Sara Alvarez steadying her. 

“Meet and greet, no freshman qualifier,” Bryant corrected. His shadow from earlier had disappeared so the sophomore was alone. “There wouldn’t be much meeting and greeting if it was just the freshmen, so a few others came over to meet the fresh blood. Now come on, go have fun,” he shooed at them playfully before headed towards another group of freshmen boys to give the same short lecture.

Laila turned away from the retracting form of Bryant and towards the inner workings of the party. There were groups hanging around in different places: Annabeth had slinked off to somewhere Laila couldn’t track, Naomi was over talking to a group of girls in cheer uniforms, and Anya was off hiding - maybe with Annie. 

The girls Laila assumed were from the cheer team were easily the most dynamic group from one girl’s sparkling outfit and another’s cotton bright blue hair tied up in playful braids. Laila turned to Sara and smiled. “Wanna get punch?” she said, nodding over to the refreshments table. 

“Sure,” Sara agreed, returning Laila’s smile. 

Like the rest of the room, the refreshments table was decked in red and gold - team spirit was not in short supply around here. There was a plate of cookies frosted with the USC logo, and Laila was impressed someone had taken the time to make them. She picked up one and took a bite.

“Mmm,” Laila mumbled. She needed to find out who made these cookies, because they were incredibly amazing. 

Sara was smirking at her. “So much for a sports diet, huh?”

Laila shrugged. “I’ll start tomorrow.” She held the other half of her cookie out to Sara. “Want a bite?” Sara shook her head, so Laila finished the cookie in one bite.

“You have a little something-” Sara waved her hand in the general direction of Laila’s lips. “Here.” She reached out her hand and ran her finger under Laila’s lip, wiping away cookie crumbs. Laila could’ve sworn Sara took a moment too long to pull her hand away, and the touch left Laila’s lips tingling with the remembered sensation and longing to have it again.

Laila ignored her goosebumps. “Thanks.”

Sara poured two plastic cups with the punch, which was of course red, and held one out to Laila. 

“A toast,” Sara announced, after Laila had taken her cup, “To our first night as Class I Exy players.”

“I’ll cheer to that,” Beatrice Watson said, suddenly materializing at their side. “I’m happy to have you two on board. We’ve been needing more girls around here. Di practically bullied the coach into taking y’all on.”

Laila felt her eyebrows shoot up. She hadn’t gotten the impression that Diana was all that fond of them, but then again, maybe it took a while for the older Trojan to be more than just professionally courteous to the new recruits. After all, it had only been a day.

Beatrice looked like she was about to say something else until the sound of a microphone crackling to life drew the crowd’s attention. Standing on top of a makeshift stage at the front of the room was the human ray of sunshine himself, Jeremy Knox, grinning wide enough to light up the entire room. 

“What’s going on?” a freshmen piped up as the lights dimmed a little.

“Oh, god, not again,” someone groaned in contrast from behind Sara and Laila. Despite the clear dismay of the older Trojans, Beatrice was smiling dopily. She looked around the crowd, silently laughing, and waved someone over. Vivian sauntered through the crowd, her smile slicing wickedly through her features. 

“You’re in for a treat, gremlins,” she drawled, looking at the girls like they were fresh meat in a slaughter house. Laila gulped nervously before turning her attention back to Jeremy.

“It’s karaoke time!” Jeremy practically jumped up and down. Laila got the picture karaoke time was one of Knox’s favorite times.    
“Karaoke time?” Sara asked in a breathless laugh, turning her cheek to give a questioning look at Beatrice. Beatrice simply smiled back as the beat of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” began. Jeremy cleared his throat, grinning out at the crowd, and then began to sing.

It was a truly atrocious performance that sent even the most polite freshmen cringing internally - and sometimes externally - but sent most of the older Trojans into either fits of groans or playful laughter. Either way, almost everyone was singing along by the end of the song.

“Oh my god, I love Taylor Swift!” Laila’s voice raised into an excited squeak before continuing to sing along. She heard Alvarez’s laughter from beside her, and Laila felt her stomach turn at the beautiful sound.

Later in the night, sometime after the 15th Taylor Swift song and no where near the end of the party, Jeremy Knox took the stage again. As he walked up, he high fived a grinning Beatrice who had just performed a stunning rendition of Who Says by Selena Gomez.

“Now, let’s have some volunteers from the freshmen,” Jeremy’s smile was wide and playful as he gazed over the crowd. Vivian got a honest-to-god terrifying look on her face that had Laila already forming the word “no” in her mouth.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Beatrice said, boxing Laila in on one side as Vivian took the other. “It’s tradition.”

“It’s horrible, I love it,” Vi said, her eyes gleaming. “Hey, Knox!” she called out, waving to get the striker’s attention. “We’ve got two volunteers right here.”

“No, you don’t,” Laila tried to say but was cut off by Sara grabbing her arm and pulling her towards the front of the room. Her contagious laughter filled the air around the pair but did nothing for the nerves growing in Laila’s stomach.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea.” Laila said quietly, so only Sara could hear her, as Sara dragged her to the stage.

“Don’t worry, Strawberry Shortcake, it’ll be fun,” Sara assured her. Jeremy outstretched a hand to the two of them, giving them each a microphone. 

“What song do you two want?” he asked cheerfully. “How about some Taylor Swift?” Jeremy suggested with a knowing look at Laila, able to tell she was more than a little nervous.

“You Belong With Me?” Laila immediately suggested one of her favorite songs, and only then did the realization hit her that she was about to sing a romantic song with a really pretty girl. Not just a really pretty girl,  _ Sara Alvarez _ ; her new roommate, teammate, and what was beginning to look like her new crush. At least she hadn’t said Love Story. 

The lyrics started at the same time Laila began singing. She knew the song by heart and could probably serenade anyone with the song at any given time. Of course, that didn’t make her prepared to serenade an entire room full of people.

Her voice was quiet at first, barely audible over the background track. Sara shot her an encouraging look, and Laila sang just a little louder. 

After a few lines, Sara joined in, singing with much more confidence and beauty in her voice than in Laila’s. Sure, Sara’s voice wasn’t superstar quality, but it filled the room and made Laila smile despite the nerves.

Lalia found a boost in her confidence, and by the end of the first chorus, she was singing almost as loudly as Sara. As long as she was looking at Sara, she didn’t even think about the crowd. By the very end of the song, Laila was laughing as the crowd cheered. A few playful wolf whistles could be heard from within the group. Laila was too happy to even give the crowd a second thought. 

The pair of girls bounced happily off the stage, back down from the clouds. Beatrice high fived them both, told them how well they did, and left them with Vi.

“See, tradition,” Vi said, her smile cunning and sharp as a knife before she followed after Bea. 

Sara turned to Laila. “I told you it would be fun. We make a good team, Shortstack.”

Laila was too far in the clouds to feel insulted by the nickname. Sara was grinning at her and Laila wanted to do nothing more than make that girl smile for the rest of her life. 

\--

“You belong with meeee,” Laila and Alvarez sang loudly as they entered their dorm at the end of the hallway. Naomi gave Annabeth a bemused-if-pitying look, knowing she’d be stuck with the two, before disappearing into the dorm with Anya. Annabeth grunted an unintelligible question before retreating to the small dorm bathroom. 

“Tonight was fun.” Laila said, once her and Sara were alone. “I’m glad we’re roommates.”

Sara smiled back -- god, her smile was beautiful -- and whispered, “Me too.”

As Sara went to go flop into her own bed Laila turned around to change, only to feel her eyes widen in surprise and her breath catch in her throat. Written in beautiful, swirly letters, across her wrist was the word  _ Enchanting.  _

Laila felt a giggly laugh bubbling up inside of her and held onto the feeling. Someone loved her. Someone loved Laila Dermott.   
And they were at USC.


	3. On a Wednesday, in a Cafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls bond over caffeination, competitive Mario Kart playing, and the exy season finally begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title taken from Taylor Swift's song Begin Again.

When Sara woke the next morning it was to Laila Dermott’s soft snoring. She yawned, interlacing her fingers and stretching up towards the ceiling. Looking around, Sara took stock. She was still partially in her clothing from yesterday, too far on the left side of tipsy and high on the adrenal rush of a party to bother changing the night before. Laila was fully pajamaed, sprawled out on her bed like she had been fighting with the bed sheets and they had won. Annabeth, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

Without bothering to go to the bathroom for privacy Sara began to change out of her tight-laced romper and into something more comfortable when she stopped cold. Scrawled right across her abdomen was a myriad of words standing out in stark black.

_Beautiful._

_Funny._

_Smart._

_Gorgeous._

_Amazing._

Sara quickly took stock of the rest of her body, finding _Unfairly Tall_ twisting around her calf and _Can I listen to her laugh forever?_ across her shoulder blade and creeping up towards her neck. The small black heart on her ankle that marked the soulmated was no longer a dull black but was instead a shining bright red. A lighthouse in the darkness that clearly marked Sara Alvarez as loved.

Sara couldn’t breathe. Her soulmate had practically written a thesaurus entry across her body for Incredible and Sara hadn’t been thinking about anyone but Laila Dermott last night. As if sensing that the backliner was thinking about her, Laila began to stir. Sara practically dove for her chest of drawers to pull on a t-shirt and pair of sweats.

“Morning, Dermott,” she said, trying for casual and mostly succeeding.

“Jesus shit, what time is it?” Laila asked, rubbing her eyes and blinking blearily.

“Just after eight,” Sara said. Every inch of her felt claustrophobic and contained and itching to move. “I’m going to go get us some coffee,” she offered. “Think Annie would want some?”

Laila pushed herself up just enough to look over at the top bunk above Sara where the other girl would’ve been sleeping and shrugged. “You’re lucky she didn’t hear you calling her that,” Laila said and Sara just laughed.

“Go back to sleep,” Sara said. “I’ll get the coffee.”

Sara wasn’t the only one searching for morning caffeination. As she jogged down the steps she almost ran straight into who she assumed to be another freshman. The guy was short, it was no wonder Sara hadn’t seen him, the kid didn’t even come up to her shoulders.

“ _Lo siento_ ,” the boy said, looking up, startled. Sara felt her eyebrows jump in surprise at the sudden burst of Spanish. The boy’s cheeks when red when he realized his slip of the tongue, but Sara smiled.

“ _No need to be sorry_ ,” she replied back in the language she grew up knowing. English was second tongue to her, having grown up in Arizona, surrounded mostly by her extended family and others of the same Hispanic heritage. She knew USC was known for its diversity standards, but still, it felt nice knowing there was someone else on this team who could understand her on a cultural level in more ways than one.

“Still, I practically ran you over, I feel bad _,_ ” he said, switching back to English. His accent wasn’t too heavy, but she could still hear the familiar roll of his ‘R’s.

“You couldn’t run me over if you tried,” she replied, smirking, “but if you feel bad, show me where to find _cafe_ around here and we’ll consider it even.”

“There's a shop down the block one of them showed me yesterday,” he said, and he's gone back to being quiet. Everything about this boy was small; he held himself so as not to be noticed, a mouse of a thing, and even his eyes appeared small behind his wide rimmed glasses that did nothing to compliment him.

“I'm Sara, by the way,” she said as they descend the rest of the stairs. “Sara Alvarez.”

“Peter Solis,” he says, smiling his little smile.

 _Sunshine?_ she thought, mentally translating his last name. It was fitting somehow. His dark freckled face had obviously seen a lot of California suns and Sara got the feeling that when he smiled it would light up the world.

They walked silently across campus to a small one-manned coffee shop Peter had spotted. Sara was sure this place would be hoping once school got up and running but for now it was just the sports teams and all was quiet. Sara looked up at the menu only to realize she didn’t know what either of her roommates would like. She bit her bottom lip, thinking for a moment, before shrugging.

“I’m going to need a mocha, french vanilla latte, and chai tea latte, please. All large. And three blueberry muffins,” Sara said to the bleary-eyed cashier with a golden hoop pierced through their nose. When in doubt, get generic. Odds are out of the three at least one of them was going to end up happy. “And whatever Shortie wants.”

Peter’s eyes widened when he realized that she was talking about him.  

“Uh, small green tea, please,” he said, shuffling his feet nervously.

“Make it a large,” Sara told the cashier, rolling her eyes. Of course, the pipsqueak drank tea. As they took a seat at one of the small tables Peter kept watching her nervously. He was halfway hiding behind his dark brown curls that had escaped his ponytail and fell loosely around his face.

“You didn’t have to do that you know.”

“We’re teammates. An extra three bucks isn't going to kill me, and anyways, you look like you could use the sugar. You’re, like, drooping. Like a sad plant.” Peter couldn’t stop the laugh that burst forth from his throat.

“Did you just liken me to a lichen?” he says, and this time he was grinning.  

“Depends, did you really just use the word ‘liken’?”

Peter just rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. Sara was right, his smile lit up the entire coffee shop.

As they went to collect their orders Sara couldn’t help but laugh - she didn’t even try to stop herself. Written across Peter’s cup in black sharpie was “Shortie.” His face turned a delightful shade of pink that caused Sara to laugh even harder.

As they walked back to the dorms, words filled the silence this time. It was just simple questions, nothing but idle chatter, but it still felt good to be getting to know someone whose life she’d be a part of for the next five years. Peter was a history major to Sara’s business degree and they actually grew up not far from each other. Sara in Arizona and Peter just a few miles from her town on the opposite state line.

As they parted at the dorms Peter looked to Sara, looked down at his cup of tea, and smiled. “Thanks, teammate,” he said. As he walked away Sara heard him mutter, “I’m not _that_ short.”

“Yep, keep telling yourself that, Shortie,” Sara called back with a roll of her eyes. Peter laughed as he took the stairs to the boy's dorm two at a time.

When Sara arrived on the fourth floor, Laila was already dressed in a pair of jean shorts that were fraying stylishly at the edges and a white shirt with three small cactuses embroidered across the front. Annabeth had reappeared, sporting a pair of yoga pants and a sweat-stained t-shirt. Sara raised her eyebrows.

“Well, you’re on top of things. Coffee?”

“Please,” Laila said, jumping up from where she had been sitting on top of her desk. “Whatcha bring me?”

“Mocha, French Vanilla, or Chai Tea. Take your pick.”

There was a mischievous glint in the other girl’s eyes as she started to grin. “Surprise me,” she said, closing her eyes dramatically and holding out her hand to receive a cup. Even Annabeth had to let loose a giggle at the silly display. Sara just rolled her eyes, smiling, and picked a random cup to place in her hand.

“Mocha for Laila. What about you, Beth?”

“Just Annabeth,” she corrected. “And Vanilla, please. What do I owe you?”

“You can pay me back by going to change your clothes. You smell like sweat and work out. We don’t have to smell like that until tomorrow,” Sara said, shooing Annabeth towards her chest of drawers. The freshman just rolled her eyes but obligingly grabbed a new pair of pants and a shirt from her pile and retreated to the bathroom.

\--

All of the freshmen girls, Anya and Naomi included, were on the receiving end of a mass text sent out by Diana around 10:30 that morning. 

_**Diana:** Lunch in the lounge, floor 3; 11:30. Be there. Be square. Etc. _

To which Beatrice - call me Bea, I hate my full name - had responded:

_ You’re about to meet your new best friends. _

Sara had looked over at Laila with raised eyebrows, but the other girl just shrugged. “Older teammates maybe?” she had suggested, but when they entered the lounge Sara realized that was not the case.

Loud laughter could be heard as they made their way down the hallway and this was the source: crowded around a tv screen was a gaggle of girls and one, lone guy. A tall, dark skinned girl was perched on the edge of the sofa arm, holding a gamecube controller tight in her hands as she cussed at the technicolor screen. 

“Oh fuck you, Donkey Kong,” she said, leaning back against the sofa and crossing her arms. Sitting cross legged in another chair was the obvious victor. Her dark brown hair was cut in a short bob and her winning smile was as sharp as her eyeliner. Just as she was about to open her mouth to say something she was cut off by an excited squeal.

“Ohhh, new girls are here!” a blonde said, her ponytail twisted into a knot near the top of her head. She waved the freshmen Exy players excitedly into the lounge. Sara couldn’t help but smile at the girl’s obvious enthusiasm. At the blonde’s words, the rest of the gaggle looked up. 

The tallest girl in the room with hair shaved down to her midnight black skin smiled welcomingly, in sharp contrast to the girl who had been cursing so colorfully not a minute before. She eyed the group with carefully wary eyes that hardly screamed welcome. The blonde stood from her seat and stuck out a hand to greet Sara - the impromptu leader of the exy girls - before turning to the rest.

The guy, on the other hand, kept himself slightly separate from the group, but was still smiling. Reserved, but not quite wary. Careful, Sara would say, but it didn’t fit quite right.

The exuberance of the group had been an easy distraction from the more superficial details, such as the matched jackets they all wore. The red, zip up hoodies were all embroidered with a golden  _ “USC Cheer”  _ on the backs.  _ Ah _ , Sara thought as she took in the group with a new light. 

No wonder ‘careful’ didn’t seem like the right adjective, all of these people threw themselves in the air as an extracurricular.

“Let's do introductions, shall we?” the black woman, their obvious leader, said. “I’m Margo, cheer captain extraordinaire. Junior here at USC. And these are my girls. Let’s do intros, shall we?” she said, motioning to the blonde standing next to her with adoring eyes.

“I’m Kensie,” she said. “Junior cheer captain. It’s real nice to meet y’all. And these are...”

“Jordan.” The darker skinned girl held up two fingers in acknowledgment.

“Elise.” The girl with the dark brown bob waved, flashing a friendly smile.

“And Teddy.” The lanky, redhead smiled.

Embracing her role of impromptu leader, Sara reached out a hand to Margo first and then Kensie. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m Sara, new freshman backliner. We’re all from the Exy team, but I’m guessing you knew that?”

“Yeah,” Margo said. She smiled easily at the girls, her bright red USC jacket complementing her dark skin nicely. “I’m friends with your captain, Diana, and we’re pretty big on intra-team relations here. So consider this just a quick get together with some of our new freshman. It’s really nice to meet you, Sara. It’s nice to meet all of you, actually.”

“Ditto,” Laila said, being the next to hold out her hand to the cheerleader. “Laila; new goalkeeper, dog person, and blueberry ice cream addict.”

“Well, it was nice to meet you,” Annabeth said before abruptly turning on her heels only to find the pathway blocked by the overly zealous junior captain. There was a determined glee in Kensie’s eyes, even as she frowned. Sara had a brief moment where she felt like she could see exactly who this blonde cheerleader was: tall, confident, and just as in love with her cheerleading career as any of them were in love with Exy.

“You know, we’re just as much a part of your team as your fellow murder lacrosse junkies. As our captain,” she said, looking towards Margo with something akin to hero worship, “is quite fond of saying, ‘how far we will go is dependent on how much we trust one another.’ So yeah, maybe we’re not on the field with you but we are with you every single step of the way.”

“I’m not actually sure if I stole that from Diana or if she got it from me,” Margo added when Kensie had said her piece. “But the point stands. We’re here to be your friends. So let’s be friends.”

Annie didn’t quite manage not to roll her eyes but she did manage a smile. “Yeah,” she said more to the floor than the Margo. “I guess that doesn’t sound like a bad plan.”

Kensie’s smile was pure glee as Annie relented.

“Your pep talks are improving,” Margo told her junior captain with unabashed pride. Sara didn’t think it was possibly but Kensie’s smile got even wider. 

“Did you know that the word trust appears 134 times in the King James Bible?” Naomi said brightly, if slightly out of nowhere. Sara and Laila’s eyes met and both blinked in vague confusion but Naomi interrupted the silence. “Is that Mario Kart?” she asked. 

Jordan grinned, a wicked smirk crossing her face as she grabbed the remote from Elise’s hands. If Jordan heard the girl’s squawk of produce she firmly ignored it as she offered up the remote like she was throwing down the gauntlet. 

“Yes. Now sit. It’s time to see what you Exy girls are made of.” There was a challenge in the cheerleader’s eyes and something inside Sara felt alive with the dare. Video games weren’t necessarily her battlefield, but she was a junkie for friendly and not-so-friendly competition alike. 

“Oh, we’re made of plenty,” Sara challenged. “I play winner.”    
The exy girls sat themselves around the tv, draping themselves among the cheer squad, a sense of friendship settling among them.

\--

Sara was awake nice and early the next morning, despite her body’s protests. Every alarm in Exy dorms was going off in unison as it was time to rise and shine. Annie was the only one who didn’t seem to have any trouble with the early wake-up call as she jumped from her bunk and took first claim of the bathroom before Laila even had her eyes open.

As Sara changed, again not bothering with the privacy that might’ve been afforded to her if she had gotten to the bathroom first, she searched her body for any obvious new words.

Much to her amusement, ‘ _Potty mouth,’_ was scrawled across her bicep and was followed quickly by ‘ _I want to kiss that mouth.’_ Sara felt her face burning as she pulled a t-shirt on, covering the words.

Somewhere in the not-too-far distance, Sara heard someone yelling. Hopefully, that wasn’t a usual occurrence.

“Someone tell them to shut up,” Laila moaned from her bunk, contemplating whether if she stared at the ceiling long enough she would magically become dressed.

“I don’t think that’ll help. Come on Sunshine, up and at ‘em.”

Eventually, with much fanfare and what sounded like even more screaming matches from down the hall, all the Freshman girls tumbled out into the hall to find Diana looking as perfectly poised as ever with a cheery Beatrice standing behind her and Vivian nowhere in sight.

“I can take two in my car, Bea’s got the rest of you,” Diana said and then started down the stairs towards the parking lot.

Arriving at the court felt like the moment Sara had been waiting for for years but didn’t know it until now. Excitement swelled up inside of her and when she took a look at Laila she saw the same eagerness mirrored. There was really only one word for the way Laila’s eyes crinkled at the edge of her smile, dimples shining bright, and that word was _adorable_. They got out of the car and headed inside, Diana leading them but leaving the freshmen to their own private moments.

Both girls turned to watch as they passed the plexiglass walls and got their first, real view of the court. Red and gold lines painted on spacious floors with a wide open goal at each end.

Sara could see it now: her on the court, Laila in the goal, the rest of the red-and-gold clad bodies forming defensive lines and holding the offense. The scoreboard would light up. The crowds would cheer. This would be their legacy, their championship, their life.

“You ready for this?” Laila asked, turning to Sara and drawing her out of the daydream. There was no hiding the obvious nerves in Laila’s voice as she looked at Sara with nothing but naked trust.

“I’ve never been more ready,” Sara said. She squeezed Laila’s shoulder gently, smiling. “We’re gonna be great, Laila. You and me, on this court, it’s gonna be great.”

Sara meant every word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freshmen:  
> Sara  
> Laila  
> Annabeth  
> Anya  
> Naomi  
> Peter 
> 
> Upperclassmen:  
> Diana  
> Vivian  
> Bea  
> Bryant  
> Jeremy
> 
> Cheer Team:  
> Margo  
> Kensie  
> Jordan  
> Elise  
> Teddy


	4. every time you smile, I smile

Laila quickly discovered that playing Exy with the Trojans was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Of course, Exy had always been both exhilarating and terrifying (which was one of the many reasons Laila loved it), but Division 1 Exy was on a whole new level.

The first week of practice was the worst. Laila was desperate to prove she was worthy of playing with Trojans, as was pretty much every other freshman on the team. By the end of the first week, Laila was sore in places she didn’t even know she could be sore. Luckily, it only went up from there.

She quickly fell into rhythm with the other Trojans, but it still felt like the ground kept shifting beneath her feet. At least the other freshmen seems just as strangely confident and secretly terrified as her.

By the time the first game of the season rolled around, Laila had settled into a routine: get up early to run with Sara, go to class, eat lunch with the team, speed through her homework, work her ass off in practice, and then flop down on her bed in utter exhaustion.

With her packed schedule, Laila barely had time to worry, even when she found out she’d be playing in goal for the beginning of the second half. It didn’t really hit her until she was standing in the locker room, only hours before the start of the game. And then a week’s worth of worry crashed down on her like a ton of bricks.

She tapped her fingers anxiously on one of the benches and hoped the others wouldn’t notice.

“First game jitters?” Asked a familiar voice behind her.

Laila turned to smile at Sara. “Maybe a few.”

“Well, there’s no need to worry, because you’re going to do amazing,” Sara assured her.

“Easy for you to say,” Laila shot back, “you aren’t playing in the first game.”

“Please, I would kill to be playing in this game,” Sara said, which didn’t surprise Laila at all. Sara was perhaps even more passionate about Exy than Laila herself, which was no small feat. “Maybe I should switch to goalkeeper just for the playing time.” The Trojans were down to three goalkeepers, two of them freshman, which meant Laila would be playing in half of the games.

Laila laughed. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Exy, she did. But she could also feel the physical weight of the pressure weighing down on her shoulders and Laila had never been great at dealing with pressure. Of course, goalkeeper was pretty much the most stressful position on the field, and Laila willing subjected herself to that, so at least she was used to it, if not quite comfortable on the USC court yet..

“Shut your mouths and tie your shoes, I want you guys out on the court and warming up in five!” Diana announced from the front of the locker room before turning to leave, most likely to go confer with the “official” team captain. Diana was an obvious leader of the team, but of course, there were no female coligate Exy captains. So Diana let one of the boys play leader and picked up the slack behind him.

“You’re all going to kill it tonight!” Beatrice piped up from behind her, a jittery smile plastered across her face.

“Just don’t fuck up.” Vi added, earning her a playful elbow from Bea.

Laila pulled the bundle of red and gold gear from her locker and began to pull off her clothes. Next to her, Sara was doing the same.

Laila stole a glance at Sara as she took off her shirt, leaving her in a sports bra. She knew she shouldn’t, but it was practically impossible for someone as gay as Laila to be next to the holy abs of Sara Alvarez and not take a peek. Damn, Laila was gay.

She also couldn’t help but search for any words from Sara’s soulmate hidden beneath her shirt either. She didn’t care if Sara had a soulmate, and she totally didn’t have a crush on Sara or anything like that. She was just curious.

Laila’s eyes traced Sara’s body, taking in every perfectly toned muscle. One thing was for sure: if Sara had a soulmate, they were one lucky individual.

“Want a picture?” Sara teased with a smirk, and Laila immediately averted her eyes, her cheeks flushing bright red.

“I-” Laila fumbled for an excuse, “I was wondering if I could borrow a hair tie.”

Sara slipped a hair tie off her wrist and handed it to Laila. She was still standing in her sports bra, apparently assuming that Laila could function normally around half naked pretty girls (an incorrect assumption).

“Thanks.” Laila said. She quickly pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail. A few strands of hair fell back into her face immediately, and Laila huffed before trying to shove the strays under her hair tie.

“Let me.” Sara offered, but before she could do anything, Vi appeared next to them and shot them a glare.

“Save the flirting for after the game, gremlins.” She was already in her full gear, looking almost natural in the bulky gear.

“Sorry,” Sara said sounding utterly unapologetic, at the same time that Laila blurted out, “Flirting?”

Bea popped up behind Vi. “Ignore her,” the dealer said sagely, but the words seemed to lose their effect when she winked playfully. Those two seemed to be attached at the hip. Laila briefly wondered if they were together, but dismissed the thought. She just couldn’t see it. Bea was all soft edges to Vi’s sharp corners.

After the older girls wandered off to harass the other freshman, Laila quickly finished getting dressed, keeping her eyes firmly away from Sara the whole time.

Flirting. Had Sara been flirting with her? Laila shook her head. That was silly. Her and Sara were just friends. Friends who barely knew each other, and who each had a real soulmate somewhere out there.

“Ready?” Sara’s voice interrupted Laila’s thoughts.

Laila nodded grimly. “As I’ll ever be. You?”

“I’m ready to watch you kick some Fighting Irish ass.”

Laila smiled. The thought of Sara cheering her on from the sidelines made her feel a little less stressed. It was nice knowing someone believed in her.

“Then let’s get out there,” she said, letting a grin creep onto her face.

\--

The Trojans played a good first half, and when the halftime break came around, they had a 3 point lead over Notre Dame, which helped loosen the weight in Laila’s chest just a smidge.

She had been impressed by the older Trojans at practice, but they were something else on the field. They worked together like a well oiled machine. If Laila didn’t know how hard they were working, she’d say their plays looked effortless.

Halftime passed in the blink of an eye, and before she knew it Laila was rushing out onto the field to take her place in the goal with nothing but a squeeze on the shoulder and a whispered “you’ll do great” from Bea and a thumbs up from Sara. The other players filed to their places in front of her: two boys she didn’t know as backliners, Diana as defensive dealer, and Jeremy and Vivian as strikers.

The other team also took their places, and soon the referee blew the whistle and the ball went into play. From there things moved so fast that Laila could barely keep up.

The Trojans drove the ball down the field, Diana passing the ball to Jeremy, who passed it to Vi, who rebounded off the wall to herself and then passed it back to Jeremy, who took a shot on goal. The Notre Dame’s goalkeeper caught the shot and passed it back to one of his teammates, who started down the field towards Laila.

Laila tensed, keeping her racket ready to deflect a shot at any moment, but one of the backliners stole the ball before she had to do anything. She silently breathed a sigh of relief as the Trojans rushed down the field again.

It wasn’t long before the Fighting Irish took the ball back and headed back for Laila’s goal. This time one of their strikers, a muscular guy who had to be double Laila’s height, lobbed the ball at the goal.

Laila lunged forward to block it, but the ball whizzed passed her, only centimeters away from her net, and the goal lit up behind her. Laila bit her lip as the other team celebrated.

The very first shot on goal, Laila’s very first opportunity to prove herself, and she had already screwed it up. Laila’s hands curled into fists. She had to do better.

The game continued, the ball going back and forth between teams with no one managing to score. After a few minutes, the Irish took another shot on goal, but barely had any power behind it, and Laila easily caught it and tossed it to Di who was too busy focusing on the court but Laila liked to think she had shot her an approving smile like Diana sometimes did in practice. It had been an easy shot to block, but at least Laila hadn’t screwed up again.

Jeremy scored, regaining the Trojan’s three point lead, but then the Irish seemed to take the court with a relentless energy, scored two points on Laila before she felt like she even knew what was happening.

Laila felt her heart begin to beat faster. The Trojans were down to a one point lead, which could disappear in a second.

Vi’s shot flew just right of the goal, and then the other team’s strikers were pressing towards Laila again. Laila bounced lightly on her feet, ready to move to wherever the ball went.

The same tall striker took a hard shot, and Laila sprang to stop it. The ball bounced off the edge of her racket, away from the goal, but the other striker scooped it up with lightning speed and threw it straight for the goal. The ball hit the back of the goal before Laila could even get near it.

The Notre Dame section of the crowd roared in celebration, while the Trojans on the field looked slightly dejected. Vi let out a string of curses that Laila could hear halfway across the fields, while Diana quickly gave advice to one of the backliners.

Laila glanced over to the sideline, where the other Trojans were shouting out encouragement. Her eyes quickly landed on Sara, who was standing up and had her hands cupped around her mouth, although Laila couldn’t make out what she was yelling.

After a moment, Sara caught Laila looking at her, and they locked eyes for a moment. Sara shot Laila two thumbs up and a bright smile, and Laila was filled with a new confidence. It was still a tie game, after all.

As soon as the ball was back in play, the Trojans attacked it. Diana made a great pass up to Jeremy, who ran it up the field with impressive speed, bouncing the ball off the wall as he went. In front of the goal, he dodged a backliner to pass to Vi, who made a near perfect shot that lit up the goal.

The crowd cheered. They were one point ahead again, but Laila wasn’t going to relax.

The *team* strikers barreled down the field, passing the ball back and forth. The tall one dodged a backliner and shot the ball to Laila’s left. She moved fast, catching the ball in her racket and passing it up to Diana in one swift movement.

The game went on. Laila blocked the next shot. And the next one. And the next one.

By the time the senior goalkeeper subbed in for her, Laila was covered in sweat from head to toe and the Trojans were up by two.

She jogged over to the sideline and flopped down on the bench. Sara ran over to her and handed her a cup of water.

“You were on fire out there,” Sara said.

“Thanks,” Laila responded, even though she wouldn’t have described herself as “on fire”. She had sucked for half her time on the field. Sara was just being nice.

Before they could say anything else to each other, Bryant, who was now playing striker, scored, and they both stood up to cheer. For the next few minutes, Laila’s worries about her performance were pushed to the back of her mind as she turned her attention to the game.

Laila gripped her water bottle tightly and watched the expert Trojans take the field, her eyes never leaving the field except to watch the scoreboard and every time the buzzer rang out she felt her heart jump into her throat.

\--

In the end, the Trojans had taken a four point lead and kept it, which was apparently cause for a celebratory pizza party. Then again, knowing the Trojans, Laila wouldn’t have been surprised if a losing score was cause for a celebratory pizza party.

The whole team, and all of the cheerleaders, carpooled to a nearby pizza restaurant, where they pushed half the tables in the restaurant together so they could all sit in one giant cluster. Then Jeremy ordered them a ridiculous amount of pizzas with every combination of toppings that Laila could imagine.

The Trojans dug into the pizza like a bunch of college students who had been running their asses off for the past two hours. Bryant wolfed down almost an entire pineapple pizza by himself, while Vi and Bea devoured their shared veggie pizza with impressive speed. Next to Laila, Sara was on her fourth slice of pepperoni.

Laila picked at the one piece of cheese pizza that was sitting on her plate with only two bites taken out of it. Honestly, she didn’t really feel like celebrating.

“Not hungry?” Sara asked her, mouth half full of pizza.

Laila shrugged, “I’m not really in the mood for pizza.”

“Wow,” Sara teased, “I didn’t know there was a mood where pizza isn’t delicious.”

Laila smiled wanly, still feeling like she was back on the court as the Fighting Irish striker took one goal after the other that she had failed to stop.

“I would like to make a toast!” Jeremy announced loudly, raising his plastic soda cup. Several Trojans rolled their eyes. “To all of us, for kicking some ass tonight, and especially to our freshmen, for proving we made some great recruiting decisions.”

“Here, here!” Bea clinked her cup against Jeremy’s, and soon the other players followed suit.

Laila suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to be somewhere else. “I have to go to the bathroom.” She mumbled to Sara, and then got out of her chair and scurried to the bathroom.

Laila splashed some water on her face. “Get your shit together,” She mumbled to her reflection. She had told herself she’d left this anxious, insecure Laila in high school, and yet here she was.

There was a knock on the bathroom door, and then Sara peeked her head in. “How’s your pee going?”

Laila almost jumped in surprise. “Are you stalking me?”

“You caught me.” Sara held up her arms in mock surrender, “I’ve been watching you sleep for weeks now.”

“I knew it. Should I start calling you Edward?”

“So,” Sara said, leaning against the door, “What’s up with you tonight? You just won your first college Exy game, and you’ve barely smiled.”

Laila shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Sara shot her a look that told Laila she wasn’t buying it. Laila wasn’t buying it either. She felt like she was wearing her anxiety as a second skin.

Laila sighed. “I feel liked I choked. On the field tonight, I mean.”

“So?” Sara asked, “Everyone chokes.” She paused for a second, “Except maybe Diana.”

“I know,” Laila admitted. “But it was my first game. And I’m a goalkeeper, I can’t choke.”

“Of course you can.” Sara replied, “That’s why you have a whole team on the field to support you.”

“I know.” Laila said again, “But,” she bit her lip, “What if I’m not good enough? I was the worst one on the field tonight.”

“If you think that, then clearly you weren’t watching everyone else on the field.” Sara took a step forward, and took one of Laila’s hands. “Listen, you are way too hard on yourself. You wouldn’t have been recruited to play division one Exy if you weren’t good enough. You wouldn’t have played the first game of your very first season if you weren’t good enough. Laila Dermott, you are strong and talented, and much too good to be hiding in a bathroom when there’s good pizza to eat and a great team to celebrate with. Okay?”

Laila felt a warm feeling wash over her. Everything Sara said felt sincere- that was just the effect Sara Alvarez had.

“Okay,” Laila said. Sara was right. USC had chosen her for a reason. She couldn’t let a few missteps get her down, especially when she had people like Sara by her side. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, shortstack.” Sara squeezed her hand. “Now, would you like to go enjoy some pizza?”

This time Laila’s smile reached her eyes. “Absolutely.”

When they left the bathroom, Laila barely registered that they were holding hands. She certainly didn’t register the words that were being written across her skin as Sara spoke: words like talented and amazing and best freshman goalkeeper in division one. Laila would realize this all later, but right now she was focused on Sara’s warm smile and the promise of celebration.


	5. Words Like Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Me and Kat are officially back! Sorry for the break - we lost one of our co-authors to life being life but we are not giving up. However, in losing one of our co-author's we've had to replace a few original characters. Kiara is being replaced by Anya, Riley by Elise, and Charlie by Margo Robinson. I'd highly suggest going back and reading over the first two chapters again to get to know them!  
> Also! Another exciting new development to make up for us disappearing on you so unexpectantly. Our fic now has a blog! You can find us over a gaytrojangirls.tumblr.com to learn more about the original characters, Laila and Sara, and see some amazing original content by your awesome authors!  
> Now that I've got that all covered, onto the gay!

Sara stretched out her extremely sore muscles. This was the price of exy and she knew it well. She could tell coach was pushing them all harder in practice by the added aches and pains and, well, not everyone was dealing with the stress of the ongoing season as well as the rest of them. Sara cast a worried glance to Peter, who was sitting across from her at the library table. 

There was no denying the boy was tired just by looking at him; his slumped shoulder and baggy eyes were a dead give away. And if it wasn’t so physically obvious, his performance on the court would be a rather forceful indicator. Peter was a good dealer because he was lithe and fast. He had a born runner’s build that made up for his short stature but he’d been slow these past few days. Sara could see the stress building on his shoulders but wasn’t quite sure how to help besides pushing tea onto him and offering extra study sessions.  

“Hey,” Sara said, causing Peter to look up from his history book. “I’m meeting Laila and Annabeth for some coffee in twenty, do you want to join? You could use a break from those books.”

Peter just gave her a wane smile in return though. 

“Thanks, but I’ve got a standing date with Alexander the Great until this essay is done and over with for my Latin class. But, uh, thanks.” 

Without another word his bushy head disappeared back into his textbook and he didn’t come back up for air until Sara had to go. 

“You sure I can’t convince you?” she asked one more time. Peter shook his head, this time not even trying to smile, before going back to his books. Sara sighed, but really, what could she do? It’s not like she could force him to take a break. She had tried that plenty of times back in high school and it had lead to more fights than she’d care to remember. With one last look back at Peter, Sara slung her bag over her shoulder and made her way to the campus coffee shop.

It was a testament to just how much of a caffeine addict Laila really was and how much Sara had integrated herself into her roommate’s life simply by how well the coffee staff knew the pair. Laila was already leaning against the counter chatting with the blue haired barista that was also on the cheer squad. 

Sara walked up beside the goalkeeper and gently bumped their hips together in greeting. “Hey Dermott,” she said. For a split second Sara thought about leaning over and resting her arms around Laila’s neck, but she quickly tried to put a halt to those thoughts. 

That’s how it had started with Mindy back in sophomore year. Casual touches that lead to things being not so casual. Sara was gay - very much so - and Laila was gorgeous. But Laila was also a friend and a teammate and her  _ roommate _ , for god’s sake. Sara didn’t want to be that girl. 

So instead she smiled and hoped that Laila didn’t notice the slight blush creeping up the back of her neck.

“You want the usual?” the blue-haired barista asked. Laila nodded enthusiastically, her short ponytail bobbing up and down with the momentum. 

“You know me so well. Iced mocha madness, please.” Laila said as she leaned against the coffee counter and smiled at the cashier. Sara thought about empty calories and the lecture she could physically hear Diana already giving Laila right then before making the decision on her own order. 

“Same here,” Sara said. The smile Laila shot her way was worth any lecture for the Trojans’ in-house nutrition specialist Diana Berker and it was certainly worth ditching her normal order of a black roast. Laila’s smiles were as sugary sweet as the coffee she preferred and were appearing more and more often, Sara was happy to note. The nerves from their first game hadn’t faded, Sara doubted they would, but as the season finally got started Laila was guarding the goal with more and more confidence. 

Sara wished she could say the same for herself and the other freshman. Worry was gnawing away at her chest about Peter. But also Annabeth, who was supposed to be meeting them. 

“Annie cancel on us again?” Sara asked Laila. The shorter blonde nodded. 

“Cited homework and wanting to go for a run before practice. I think she might be allergic to us.” Laila said it playfully, but it was partially true. Annie was hardly in the dorm and if she was it was with her headphone firmly attached to her head. It was a small consolation, but it didn’t seem to just be Laila and Sara she avoided spending time with either. 

She tended to avoid the team outside of practice and sometimes even chafed at the forced closeness during the practices and required team meetings. She was a great player, ruthless and wicked fast, but exy was a team sport. 

It was probably homesickness that was eating at Annie and Peter both, not to even mention the awkwardly silent striker, Anya. Just because the homesickness hadn’t hit Sara quite yet didn’t mean it wasn’t eating the others up. Either way, Sara hoped they’d get over it soon. The season was really getting into swing. They’d all be on the field soon and Sara couldn’t be the only one eager to prove herself. 

“I’m gonna go grab a table,” Laila said, leaving Sara to wait for the coffee alone with her thoughts. Not that anyone was ever really alone at USC. For as big a campus as it was it still felt like everyone knew everyone. As if the universe was calling her bet, once Sara had collected their orders and turned to find Laila, she also found yet another member of the USC exy team.

Bryant Wolfe was leaning up against the wall where Laila was sitting. Once he saw Sara walked over towards them he smiled wide, his dark brown skin crinkling at the edges of his hazel eyes with the authenticity of his emotions. Attached at his hip was another girl. She was shorter - everyone was shorter than Mr. 6’3” - but had no less of a presence than the sophomore striker. Her smile wasn’t nearly as bright but conveyed just as much sincerity.  

“Hey Sara,” Bryant said.

“So this is Sara?” the girl asked. “Bry’s been talking about you. Only good things, I promise. Says you’re one of the best freshman they’ve got.”

“I’m sure he’s just being nice,” Sara started to say, half glaring at Bryant for drawing attention only to be interrupted by Laila. 

“Nope,” Laila said with a grin. “Sara’s awesome. I love her.”

Heat started flooding her cheeks at the compliment and the sheer ease with which the words “I love you” fell from Laila Dermott’s mouth.

“I’ve heard you’re pretty good too,” the girl said to Laila before turning back to Sara. “And he doesn’t do that. If he doesn’t have something nice to say he won’t say anything at all and he’s had plenty to say about you and this girl right here.” She nodded her head over to Laila with a fairy’s laugh. “Most talented freshman on the team, to quote our last conversation.”

“Now you’re just embarrassing her, Hayle. That’s supposed to be my job. But my girlfriend’s right, I don’t say things I don’t mean. Speaking of, Sara and Laila, this is Hayle Tanaka. She’s a junior here.”

“Clothing design major,” Hayle added in, but Sara’s brain has caught about two sentences back on the word  _ girlfriend _ . 

“She is  _ so  _ out of your league,” Laila said, obviously getting caught on the same word Sara did. Sara found herself laughing as Laila turned a delightful shade of rose red as her brain realized just what had managed to escape her mouth.

“Well, you’re not wrong,” Bryant said with his always playful grin while Hayle just laughed and laughed along with Sara. Their eyes locked and Sara couldn’t help but laugh harder.

“So…” Sara said, attempting to come to Laila’s rescue. “Are you guys soulmates or…?”

Hayle shook her head. “Nah. We’re in college and the world is big. We might as well have some fun together while we’re in each other’s lives.” Bryant nodded along, leaning over to kiss her cheek only to have her turn so their lips met instead. 

“Plus,” Hayle said, a new sparkle in her eyes, “he’s  _ very  _ good in bed.”

Laila was not the only one blushing now as Sara joined her at the blatant mention of sex. Sara wasn’t a “prude” by any means but it was still a pretty big social faux pas to have not so much pre-marital sex as pre-soulmate sex. Not that it should make a difference, but Sara was from a Christian family. There were some things a person grew up believing that could be hard to shake. 

“And now you’ve really embarrassed them,” Bryant said through a chuckle. Hayle just grinned. 

“You’re not that only one who can have a little fun.” 

“So, besides fabulous sex,” Sara said, struggling to deadpan the line with her own sense of dry humor, “what else do you guys do together?” 

Hayle and Bryant launched into a shared tale of dates on the pier and Bryant’s attempt at teaching Hayle to surf. They were laughing with each other as they switched off lines, their stories flowing easily between them. They looked at each other and for a brief moment all Sara could think was -  _ I want someone to look at me like that. I want  _ Laila  _ to look at me like that. _

“Well I’ve got to get to class,” Sara said once their tale of snorkeling adventures came to an end. Hayle, Bryant, and Laila waved goodbye as Sara picked up her bag. 

If the words “I love her” were still ringing in Sara’s ears, no one really needed to know.

\--

Walking into that afternoon’s practice and Sara could already feel the tension in the air. Maybe it was just imagined but her mother always told Sara she had a sixth sense for this type of thing… Nevertheless, she geared up with the rest of the girls and tried to ignore that nagging sensation. 

Practice started out as usual, with the team running drills until Sara felt like her legs were going to fall off. In some ways it was an improvement, at the beginning of the year it had only taken about five minutes of practice before Sara wanted to lay down on the court and die. The people that say collegiate sports aren’t hard have obviously never played.

After drills, they moved into a scrimmage. Sara clicked racquets with Annie as they were paired up and headed to their side of the court. Peter followed not far behind - playing their offensive dealer for the match. Sara was feeling on top of her game, but in front of her Peter was slipping, letting Sara and Annabeth slip past him with unfortunate ease.  

After he fumbled his third catch, Sara felt the unrest some of the rest of the team was feeling. One striker - sophomore, Sara wanted to say, and almost a few inches taller than her - was sending balls Peter’s way with harsher throws, causing Peter to just struggle more. 

“God damn it, Solis,” the striker said, lobbing another ball in Peter’s direction so hard the kid had to duck to avoid getting hit.  “Have you considered actually catching the damn ball for once?”

Sara felt a flash of anger, followed by a fierce defensiveness. She took a few steps out of her position to stand in between DeMarco and Peter, the latter of whom looked like he just wanted to be anywhere else right then. “He’s trying his best!” Sara argued as Peter seemed to cower back. 

“Doesn’t mean his best is good enough. We’re class one, Alvarez, he needs to act like it,” the older sophomore shot back, like he had any authority on this court.

“Hey!” Jeremy reprimanded sharply. “That’s enough DeMarco.” The sophomore just scowled in Jeremy and then Peter’s direction and Sara felt that flame of anger lick temptingly at the shortening fuse of her self control. Couldn’t that idiot see Peter physically shutting down? Before she could do anything stupid Diana stepped up to do it for her. 

“Solis, DeMarco, over here,” she said, jerking her head to indicate the empty space beside her. Peter scrambled to comply with the order while DeMarco sauntered over with the self-assured confidence of someone who thought he had won. “Alvarez, Knox, back to your drills,” she ordered. 

Sara wanted nothing more than to stay by Peter’s side, to give him some support, but there was no arguing with Diana and her stern jaw. As she slipped back into the fray of practice a familiar form jogged up beside her. 

Laila Dermott shot Sara a worried look through the mask of her helmet. Two months in and the two girls were already developing their own language with simple looks and right now Laila was clearly asking what was wrong with her slightly upturned eyebrows and turned down lower lip. Sara tried to shrug it off, focusing on the sound of a ball ricocheting around the court. 

It wasn’t long before DeMarco was back on the court as well, sticking to the striker’s side of the court this time. He looked much less impressed with himself which gave Sara at least a little satisfaction but not as much as knowing that Peter was okay would. The kid was nowhere to be seen on the court.

Sara could feel a pulling sensation on her heart like she’d get whenever the other girls would tease Katie Lorde in the locker room for her thicker thighs. This wasn’t high school anymore. This was college. This was USC. This was supposed to be better.

\--

“Okay, huddle up,” the acting captain, Garrett Hawkins, said after everyone had stripped out of their practice gear but before they had migrated to the showers. Diana had herded the girls into the common area where the dozen or so boys were also waiting. Sara tried to make eye contract with Peter but he seemed to be staring rather determinedly at the floor. “And by huddle I mean sit, you’re all hot and sweaty and gross but Di’s got something to say so listen up.”

With that introduction, he ceded the front of the room to the defensive dealer. Garrett was a great player and a decent captain but it was obvious to everyone in the room that it was sexism that was keeping Diana from the position, not skill or prowess. She demanded the entire room’s attention with just a look. 

“Does anyone in this room know why we are the consecutive winners of the Kayleigh Day Award for ten years running, going on eleven on my watch?” Diana asked rhetorically. Sara had always chalked their sportsmanship up to a friendliness and a hard won dedication to clean playing but that didn’t seem to sound like what Diana had in mind. A few hands were raised and decidedly ignored. 

“It’s because we’re smart. You let them get to you on the court and you’re fucked. We keep our heads on straight and we play the game. And do you know why we can do that? It’s because this team has each other’s backs. Tearing each other down? That’s the opposing team’s job. Your job, every single one of you, is to build each other up until they can’t make a dent.”

“Patience. Persistence. That’s how we build each other up. Not by knocking them down, okay? You got an issue with another player, bring it to me or Garrett. You don’t take it out on them, and especially not on the court. Everyone understand me?”

A chorus of “yes captain”s went up across the room under the threat of Diana’s steely gaze. 

“Glad I’m understood. Now get out of here. See you at the gym bright and early.” 

She hopped down from where she had been perched on the table and joined the rest of the girls as they filed into their locker room. 

\--

Sara changed as fast as she could to try and catch Peter before he ducked out, but given the fact that she was now one of the only exy players left in the locker room, he had beat her to it. 

“Don’t worry, Bry’s taking care of him,” Bea tried to reassure her before leaving, but it didn’t leave Sara feeling very assured at all. Laila tugged gently at Sara’s arm and nodded to the door. Well aware that there was nothing else to be done in the locker room, Sara followed her. 

“I’m sure Peter’s going to be okay,” Laila said once they made their way back to the dorms through the campus’ winding sidewalks. 

Sara wanted to say that  _ yes _ , she knew he would probably be fine. But it still hurt to see Peter hurting. Katie had been a girl back at Sara's high school and her first kiss. They had been kids, freshmen just trying to figure things out, and they'd been laughed off the field and out of the locker room for it. 

Sara never wanted something like that to happen to someone else she cared about. Certainly not here. USC prided itself on diversity and fairness and Sara had to believe it wasn't just a front. 

“Come on,” Laila pressed, gently bumping her shoulder into Sara’s. Sara tried to smile for her friend but couldn't quite manage it. 

“Yeah. Just thinking. Worried.”

“Worry doesn't do you any good. Talk to me, Sar.”

“About what?”

“About anything.”

Anything was a broad subject, and in the end there was only one thing Sara really wanted to talk about. 

“I had a girlfriend. In high school. Well, I had lots of girlfriends, but she was my first. Katie. And high school… high school was shit.” Sara laughed. It felt hollow. 

She chanced a look over at Laila. Sara had never actually told the other Exy player she was gay. Not explicitly. But between the rainbow flag Sara had above her bed and her blatant flirting with the other girls in her classes she assumed most people had caught on. 

If Laila was shocked by the blatant omission she didn't show it. Instead, she just nodded, urging Sara to go on. 

“We played Exy together. And we weren’t the best players if I’m being honest, but we were just freshmen trying to have fun. And she was nice, the nicest girl there. But the other girls laughed. And when they found us kissing they laughed a lot more. And the whole team laughed then. A lot. She ended up leaving the team and transferred schools not even a year later. I just… I know that it won't be like that here. No one's going to get laughed off the team. Not for anything. That's why we have contracts. But still…”

“Still, it was a bit jarring to see your friend yelled at like that by a teammate?”

“Teams are supposed to have each other's backs.”

“And we will,” Laila promised. She reached for Sara's hand and squeezed it gently. “I've got your back, Alvarez. And the team does too. You'll see.” 

Laila smiled, gently, brightly, and Sara wanted to believe her. 

“And by the way,” Laila said. “I'm gay too. Just so you know. Since we're sharing things.”

It was Sara's turn to smile now. Laila and Sara had a lot in common. Both fierce girls holding hands, wondering if this was going to turn into something more. 


End file.
